Modi's minister Nihal Chand summoned in rape case

A Jaipur court on Thursday issued notice to Minister of state for Chemicals and Fertilisers Nihal Chand in a November 2011 case, in which he has been accused of rape by a married woman. The court has sought his response, along with that of 16 other accused, asking them why the case be not reopene

A Jaipur court on Thursday issued notice to Minister of state for Chemicals and Fertilisers Nihal Chand in a November 2011 case, in which he has been accused of rape by a married woman. The court has sought his response, along with that of 16 other accused, asking them why the case be not reopened.

Nihal Chand

The notices were issued by Jaipur's additional district and session judge P.P. Gupta in response to a review petition by the woman challenging an earlier decision of the lower court that had accepted the final report (FR) of the police closing the case, said victim's counsel C.L. Yadav. Besides the Union minister, notices were issued to Yogeshwar Garg - a former minister in an earlier BJP government in Rajasthan, Pushpendra Bhardwaj - a former students' union leader and additional SP Anil Rao, among others.

The FIR was based on a complaint filed in 2011 by the woman from Haryana's Sirsa who was married in 2010 at the age of 17 to one Om Prakash Godara, a native of Ganganagar's Hanumangarh in Rajasthan. The couple was living in Jaipur's Vaishali Nagar. Incidentally, Chand, 43, has won from Ganganagar Lok Sabha constituency, reserved for the Scheduled Caste, for the fourth time at a stretch.

The FIR was registered following directions from a local court the woman had approached. She had alleged that she was sexually abused between February and September 2011. According to her complaint, her husband allegedly forced her into prostitution soon after their marriage in December 2010. She alleged, "When I asked him why he was forcing me to do all that he said I was mistaken about being his wife and that I was only a means of making money. He even filmed me in compromising positions with others and blackmailed me for money."

Her husband is in real estate business, said her counsel Yadav. He alleged that after registering the FIR in November 2011, the police investigation was not fair as the accused were very influential persons. The police closed the case by filing a final report in December 2012.

Aggrieved by the police action the victim filed a protest petition in the court in January 2013. But, metropolitan magistrate Rajendra Singh Jatav accepted the police report on February 10, 2014. This forced the victim to file the review petition before the additional district judge who, after hearing the victim and examining evidences, issued notices on Thursday asking the accused why the case should not be reopened and they be prosecuted, Yadav pointed out.

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